The United States followed up their success at Sochi 2014 with World Championships gold ©Getty Images

United States beat arch-rivals Canada in the gold-medal game of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships A-Pool to secure a record-equalling third title.

After a scoreless first two periods at the HARBORCENTER in Buffalo, New York, Brody Roybal fed the puck to fellow teenager Declan Farmer to put the host nation in front before Dan McCoy and Josh Pauls sealed a 3-0 victory for the Sochi 2014 Paralympic champions.

“This felt like a dream,” said the US’s Steve Cash, who made eight saves to record a shutout in net.

“Obviously, in Sochi, we worked really hard to win gold there, and I feel like this year we’ve been working even harder as a unit.

“To do this in front of our home fans and in front of a lot of people who have never even been exposed to sledge hockey before, it gives me a feeling of pride and speaks volumes to where the sport has come and how much it has grown.”

The win was sweet revenge for the US having lost to Canada in the final of the 2013 edition, hosted by Goyang, South Korea and Nagano, Japan. 

“My first year on the national team, we came up short in the World Championships against Canada in 2013, so it was great to get them back and win the title," added Farmer. 

Russia claimed the bronze medal for the second consecutive World Championships
Russia claimed the bronze medal for the second consecutive World Championships ©Getty Images

Meanwhile in the bronze-medal match, Ilia Volkov scored the winning goal as Russia claimed a second-consecutive third-place finish at the World Championships by beating Norway 2-1.

Sergei Panfilov’s first period opener was cancelled out by Norway’s Jan Roger Klakegg in the second, and following a scoreless third, Volkov stepped up to the plate in overtime.

“It was a battle out there, but our team played so much better today than the first few days of the tournament,” said Vadim Selyukin, the most senior member of the Russian team.

“We would have liked to play in the final with Canada or the US, but considering we had some of our top players out we performed quite well.”



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